Morgan Matthews Graduates from Wellesley

[kwanfan1818]

If you scroll to the bottom of this ice network article on the Cain/Le Duc pairing, you'll find the happy news that Morgan Matthews graduated from Wellesley College last Friday:
http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2016/05/31/181227238

Congratulations to her and best wishes for her future in finance and coaching.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I really liked her with Maxim. Their partnership lasted through juniors and then just one season in seniors? Or two?

She had that "something!"

Why did they split?

I was just googling the Roseanne kids yesterday because I was curious why the character of Becky kept being played by Lecy and Sarah back and forth. It became an on set joke in season 8. You never knew which Becky would appear in what episode. Turned out because lecy also was attending Wellesley.

 

[GarrAargHrumph]

She'd said she'd broken up the partnership:
http://espn.go.com/olympics/figureskating/news/story?id=2780807

 

[Jem X]

I thought someone had posted here that she had some kind of congenital physical abonormality, maybe a bad hip or back, that started bothering her and ended her skating career.

eta: the poster may have been a relative or a fellow skater

 

[Garden Kitty]

Congrats to her. I always like to see skaters succeed off the ice as well!

 

[Spun Silver]

I thought someone had posted here that she had some kind of congenital physical abonormality, maybe a bad hip or back, that started bothering her and ended her skating career.

eta: the poster may have been a relative or a fellow skater

I know a relative of hers signed the Let the Skaters Skate petition in her honor, and that was aimed at the federations and ISU blocking international partnerships at will.

 

[Vash01]

Congrats to her

 

[Sylvia]

Matthews adds title of 'college graduate' to résumé
Former world junior ice dance champion completes degree in economics
Posted 6/2/16 by Lois Elfman, special to icenetwork
http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2016/06/02/181678450
Excerpts:

Her goal was to earn a bachelor's degree, and three years ago she was admitted to Wellesley as a Davis Scholar, a special category for non-traditional students. She said Wellesley wasn't originally on her radar because she didn't think she could get in; she didn't take the SATs and finished high school with a GED.
"I was pretty serious about going back to school; I just wasn't sure how it was all going to work," Matthews, 29, said. "I learned about the (Davis Scholar) program and (how) it was possible to get in with other accomplishments."

Matthews continues to coach at the Skating Club of Boston. She is cautious about overexerting herself -- the hip injury that ended her skating career persists, and she said she will eventually need a hip replacement -- but she still wants to keep her hand in the sport.
"I have to keep [involved in skating]," she said. "I don't think I'm capable of fully disengaging. I'll still teach. Then, we'll see. Maybe I'll do technical specialist camp to see different parts of the sport." ...
In July, she'll begin a job at a finance company in Boston. In the meantime, she'll coach and move into a new apartment."

Matthews had described the end of her competitive career and hip injury in IceNetwork's 8/9/10 "Inside Edge" blog as follows:

The world last saw Matthews when she and partner Leif Gislason finished fifth at the 2009 U.S. championships. Injuries caught up with both of them shortly afterward.
"Leif had had shoulder surgery, and he was in a lot of pain all the time," said Matthews. "He didn't see any good way to keep skating. I kept skating for a while, with Eliot Pennington. Then he got hurt, and then I got hurt, and that was it."
Matthews rattled off a horrifying list of terms to describe her hip injury.
"I have a macerated labrum; when I put my hip forward my femur starts to slip out of the socket. I have acetabular dysplasia, where the head of the femur isn't covered all the way. I also have vascular necrosis, which means the head of the femur is deteriorating. So it's in terrible shape, basically!"

 

[aftershocks]

^^ And Morgan was an ice dancer. Perhaps she may also have sustained childhood injuries and experienced possible misaligned posture that can contribute to joint injuries. Or also possibly hereditary susceptibility. Was she ever a singles skater with repetitive jumping as another factor?

So sorry for Morgan. But thankfully there are ongoing advancements in hip replacement procedures. Hip replacement due to osteoarthritis is in my future. I'm trying to keep surgery at bay with aqua therapy and other land-based exercises. Hopefully more advances in surgical procedures will have occurred by the time I can delay no longer.

I wonder the trajectory/ chronology of Morgan's partnership saga after the split with Maxim Z. Didn't her efforts to skate with someone for another country come to naught due to release refusal? Morgan's comments in the article are inspirational. Congrats and much good luck to Morgan!